Equity and the power of art

It was a privilege to hear the stories behind the art that Ayesha Green (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu) and Ngahuia Harrison (Ngātiwai, Ngāpuhi) contributed to Toi Tū Toi Ora at the Auckland City Art Gallery. It is the largest contemporary Māori art exhibition ever held - historically significant.

Detail - 'Mum 1985' by Ayesha Green, 2021.

My tears flowed as Ayesha Green described her portrait painting 'Mum May 1985'. This is about her mother's first encounter with her whānau's marae at Otakau. The painting manages to convey an array of mixed emotions despite being composed of blocks of colour, graphically minamalist, with a naive, rendering. That look. That gaze. It is one of trepidation and excitement - also innocence. Her tūrangawaewae. For the first time. Now I understand the context and background, it will be etched in my memory forever. Whakapapa matters.

Ngahuia Harrison's landscape photographs with their bright red frames poetically reinforce the injustices that Ngātiwai have experienced. Alignment is found only in that unwavering horizon. The industry and residential settings are slightly off-key as if they don't quite sit easily within their environments. A subtle but clear statement about the ongoing and complex claims of manawhenua and manamoana under the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process. These images reflect their stories, complete with an in-joke only Ngātiwai would understand related to the red of the frames.

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In a corner of the cavernous gallery I found two abstract mixed media paintings by Natalie Couch (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa). Te Kiri o Hinekai (2011) and Wairākei (2018) are delicate dreamscapes of the geothermal Taupō volcanic plateau. Couch uses visual language to describe the sacred nature of this region through intricate patterning and texture. The descriptions note that they offer a lament to the past suppression of the land and restoration of the Waiora Valley through the healing waters. The tips of the golden waterfalls are reminiscent of the semi-abstract birds that the late Bill Hammond painted. Another reason I found these works so captivating. After hearing the gruelling stories of dispossession and cultural dislocation I found these two works a gentle, healing place to dwell.

Wairākei, Natalie Couch, 2017

Te Kiri o Hinekai, 2011.

This show is a tour de force. It is also a sad indictment on current art world practices within Aotearoa.

The curator, Nigel Borrell (Pirirākau, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Whakatōhea) resigned when the show opened. He cited irreconcilable differences over the gallery's future direction and what he described as 'different ways of viewing aspirations for Māori'. (see Canvas, Joanna Wane, 16 January 2021).

I expect to see the Gallery act as a Treaty partner, not continuing the out-dated role of benefactor - parading interesting art of the 'other', for their own kudos, according to the fashion of the day. This is about sharing the top table with Māori. Shame on you Auckland City Art Gallery.

Visiting this show came at the end of a week where I was examining my own role as a Pākehā artist standing in white privilege. What is my responsibility to address injustices? Who's role is it to point out transgressions? Individuals? Institutions? Certainly not tangata whenua. They have been doing this for 181 years and must be heartily sick of it all. It is not ok for Pākehā to sit on the sidelines even as empathetic supporters who claim to be anti-racist. This is difficult terrain to navigate, but there is a moral imperative to work towards equity.

I am keenly aware of the inequities prevalent in Aotearoa and embedded in institutions. I grew up in multi-cultural Grey Lynn and witnessed my friends being subjected to racial slurs, being overlooked, or targeted, according to the scenario that was playing out. My whanaunga identify as Nga Pūhi.

In the end I joined a Non-Māori group that works towards ending colonisation in Aotearoa.